From 2h agoEssential reading: here are yesterday’s match reports:And a word on Cody Gakpo, scorer of a rasping goal for the Netherlands but having a horrible time right now after the loss of his and his partner’s unborn son, as our man in Monterrey, Nick Ames, wrote:
double quotation markFootball is a vessel for myriad thoughts and feelings so it was an intensely affecting moment when, after he had rammed his team into a 72nd-minute lead, the entire Dutch squad piled on to the pitch in joy. More than that, they had done so in support. Gakpo had elected to play despite the announcement that he and his partner had tragically lost their unborn son. He was tearful upon making his way back to the centre circle, pointing to the sky and being comforted by his teammate Denzel Dumfries.
Key events1h agoKlopp plays down links to Germany head coach role3h agoPreambleHello, hello! And goodbye, Tom. You are now riding with me (Graham) for a little while as we continue to chop up the high drama of last night’s action.Personally I am still trying to piece it all together after falling asleep on the sofa during the second half of Germany’s defeat then taking myself to bed where I saw Germany had scored in extra time so naturally assumed that was that … oops. Then I committed the cardinal sin for my sleep score and checked my phone a little after 4am to see Germany had been knocked out (what?) and the Netherlands were just beginning a shootout with Morocco. So on went the BBC Sounds app and I listened to what I think was loads of penalty misses until Morocco finally put it to bed.I get the feeling there might be a few more broken night’s sleep yet as my interest in the knockouts has been well and truly piqued.The England – DRC countdown begins with a tasty slice of on-brand pessimism in the inbox from Richard Lapworth:
